


Not a Fairy Tale

by TheGirlWhoDancesWithAlphas



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, and cute, and i just love isaac okay, they're fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-02-01
Packaged: 2017-11-25 12:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlWhoDancesWithAlphas/pseuds/TheGirlWhoDancesWithAlphas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They weren't conventional in any sense of the word, Isaac had a rag tag family of three. Lydia was pretending to be somebody she wasn't. But underneath it all, they were a lot more similar than you think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> My beta is fantastic, like seriously I would be a grammatical mess without them. Whatthehale27, you should be aware that I love you!

“I give up! Who invented logarithms anyway?” Isaac demanded, throwing his books on the floor.

“John Napier.” Lydia replied, flouncing into the room and settling on the couch. Isaac sighed, throwing his head against the cushion.

“How do you even know these things?” he demanded, frustrated.

“It interests me” she shrugged, licking the ice cream off her spoon.

“Is there anything that doesn’t interest you?” he asked, and she thought about it for a moment.

“No.”

Isaac rolled his eyes.

“Need some help?” she asked.

“Hmm, fail algebra or get help from the smartest girl in the whole school. That is a hard one…” Isaac laughed.

“Don’t be clever. I’m the clever one, you’re the potato one.” she said, and came to sit on the ground beside him.

“Whovian” he muttered under his breath.

“Takes one to know one!” she chirped, picking up his discarded books and preparing to explain the the quadratic equation.

When they finished, Isaac felt like he had actually learned something--which was amazing because he had been in Mrs. Mitchell's class for almost a full year and hadn’t absorbed anything. He leaned his head against the couch again, and stared at his completed worksheet, awestruck.

“You are amazing”

“I know” she replied, grinning. “I’ll be back tomorrow, kay?”

Isaac’s head snapped up, “Wait tomorrow, you mean, you’re going to help me again?”

Lydia laughed at him, “Don’t you want to pass?” she asked, throwing her bag over her shoulder and walking towards the door.

“God I love you! You are amazing; seriously, Stiles had the right idea about you!” he exclaimed as she exited.

“See you tomorrow, sweetheart!” she called back as the door swung closed. 

Isaac sat back down on the couch, and felt a strange urge to watch Doctor Who. He thanked his lucky stars that Stiles had partial control of the DVR. This meant there were a bunch of re-runs already taped.

He lay there a while watching David Tenant episodes happily.

“God, Stiles is rubbing off on you” Derek said, laughing when he came in, and sat down on the couch next to Isaac.

“It’s a good show” Isaac replied, shrugging.

“Wait, who’s this guy; I thought it was a different one?” Derek asked confused, gesturing towards the brunette brandishing the screwdriver on the television.

“He changes faces… you know what, just let Stiles explain it to you, he’ll love it.”

Stiles and Isaac hadn’t always gotten along swimmingly. the other teen was often too outspoken and loud for Isaac’s taste in the beginning but after a while he started to grow on him. dragging him into the world of internet fandoms, and the admiration for British television shows.

Derek nodded. “Why was Lydia here?”

Isaac shrugged because he wasn’t exactly sure himself.

“Don’t know, she might have been here to steal your ice cream but she ended up helping me do my homework.”

“How’d that go?” Derek asked. Isaac smiled because Derek was so much like Cam, it was crazy. He was tough on the outside and ridiculously sweet on the inside; he wasn’t sure Derek knew it, but he was really thankful to have him. Derek was concerned about him, his grades, and his love life. Derek went to all his lacrosse games and bought him new clothes, and it made Isaac feel almost like he had a family again.

Life had gotten easier since Derek had become his guardian. They were, well they weren’t really a family, but they were better than what Isaac had before. Derek’s house was home and Derek and Stiles had become like Isaac's brothers. It was weird at first, Derek being there all the time, someone actually caring about him, but sometime in the last year it had all become normal.

Well, as normal as it was to walk into the kitchen and see Stiles and Derek making out over dinner. Which, okay, in the beginning, hadn't seemed normal either (I mean Stiles and Derek, who knew right?), but now it was kind of sweet. Almost sickeningly sweet at this point, but Isaac didn't mind because they were perfect together.

 

“She’s brilliant, like, astoundingly brilliant and I actually understood what we were doing. She’s coming back tomorrow.” Isaac said grinning, and Derek laughed, clapping him on the back.

“Good for you, pup.” he said, checking his watch and standing up. “I have to go get Stiles from work or he’ll never talk to me again.”

Isaac laughed, “Only you would think that was a bad thing”

Derek shrugged, grabbed his coat, and walked out the door.

It didn’t occur to Isaac until later that Derek might not have been congratulating him on getting his math homework done, but he shrugged it off. It didn’t even matter if he liked Lydia (which he didn’t) because she was hung up on Jackson from, like, now until forever. Even though the guy had pulled a dick move and left.

____________________

When he got home from school the next day, Lydia was sitting on the couch reading an old book, probably written in Latin (or something else he wouldn’t understand).

“Hey,” he said smiling. “I um… actually didn’t get assigned any math homework today.” He sat on the couch next to her. She shrugged.

“How are you doing in English?” she asked, and he cringed.

“Macbeth is kicking my ass.”

She grinned, shutting her book and setting it on the table. “Well, let’s fix that.”

She pulled out her copy and started explaining their assignments. When they were finished three hours later, Isaac had completed his essay, started his chem lab report that wasn’t due till next week, and finished his econ essay.

“God, how did I ever do this without you?” he asked, laughing.

“You didn’t,” she replied, packing up her things. He nodded.

“Oh yeah.” he said, still laughing a bit. “You uh, you wanna stay for dinner? I was just going to get Chinese take away.” He gestured to the kitchen. Lydia made a face like she was thinking about it, before plopping down on the couch and grabbing the remote.

“Only if I get to pick the movie.”

“Deal” he responded immediately, crossing the room to grab the take away menu and bring it back to her.

“Alright, pick food I’m starving.”

She scrunched up her face in a way that shouldn’t be so freaking adorable, but it totally was.

“Uh, Lo Mein noodles and an egg roll.” She handed the menu back to him. After he called in the order, he sat back down on the couch.

“What movie are we watching?” he asked, trying to judge from the trailers before the menu popped up, and failing.

“The Avengers” she said happily. He grinned at her.

“Could you possibly get any better?” he asked, and she stared at him blankly.

“You’re gorgeous, smart, funny, and low and behold, apparently have an appreciation for Marvel superheroes and chocolate ice cream.” he said, grinning and staring at the opening credits as he babbled. “It’s like they took everything good in the world and put it into you.”

Isaac watched the movie with wide eyes; he had seen it, like, 12 times already but it never got old. And because he was staring at the screen, he didn’t see Lydia staring at him like he had grown another head.

Because, why would she? He was sure people complimented her all the time; she was Lydia Martin, after all.

Except that, nobody ever said things that nice to her. They said things like, “Pretty dress” or “I like your shoes!”

Nobody but Stiles had ever complimented her for anything but her looks.

They watched the movie in near silence, with the occasional laughing, or Lydia pointing out plotholes and places where the movie didn’t match the comics. About halfway through, someone knocked on the door.

“Must be the Chinese” Isaac reasoned, standing up and grabbed some money from under the wolf Stiles had put in the kitchen.

“Oh my god, that’s a lot of noodles!” He exclaimed, returning to the couch with the take out container and chopsticks. He was right--they had given them a giant container of Lo Mein which made Lydia grin.

“Yum!” she said, taking the chopsticks to the noodles. Isaac tried to stop a giggle, she looked adorable.

It was in that moment that Isaac realized he had a crush on Lydia Martin.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t that hard to do, hell, in Beacon Hills falling in love with Lydia Martin was pretty much a rite of passage. Isaac just…hadn’t gone through it. He hadn’t seen the appeal of the (admittedly very pretty) Lydia he had seen walking the halls. That Lydia was shallow, vapid, seemingly stupid and so different from the girl sitting in front of him. This Lydia was nice, a closet geek and funny. She was still attractive, yes, but that was the least interesting thing about her now. Isaac had come to find she was beautiful inside and out…

“Earth to Isaac! You’re like, drooling in your chicken,” Lydia said, waving her hand in front of his face, laughing.

God she had a great laugh.

“Yeah, sorry! I’m good, just distracted.” he recovered quickly.

Lydia laughed, pushing play to resume the movie and stealing a piece of Isaac’s chicken.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, even though he didn’t really care.

“What? Its yummy.” She said, laughing. She really had to stop doing that because her real smile, the one she didn’t fake or force, was breathtaking. That was as close as he could get without resorting to asdfghjkl;.

“Do you think Scar-Jo looked better with blonde or red hair?” She asked, and Isaac didn’t even think before he spoke. Maybe Derek was right, maybe Stiles was rubbing off on him...first, Doctor Who; second, a crush on Lydia Martin; third, no brain-to-mouth filter.

“I’ve always liked redheads better.”

Smooth Isaac, real smooth.

“Really? Most guys go blonde.” She replied, stealing more of his chicken.

“Uh, I mean they’re nice but, redheads have always been cuter, in my opinion.” he said shrugging.

“Don’t let Erica hear you say that.”

Isaac quirked an eyebrow. “Why would she care?” he asked through a mouthful of chicken.

“Because, she’s your girlfriend.”

He choked, thumping himself on the back in a way he was sure was not at all attractive.  
“Oh god,” he laughed, “God, no! She’s like my sister--like a really awkward twin sister who is fucking my best friend.” Lydia snorted in laughter before covering her mouth, embarrassed.

“She’s dating Boyd? Wow, I never saw that one coming” she responded, giggling.

“Yeah, they’re going on, what, almost a year now I think. Almost as long as Derek and Stiles.” Isaac was amazed she hadn’t known that particular piece of gossip. Had Lydia really been that out of the loop since the Peter debacle?

Lydia nodded, laughing lightly, “Well that explains a lot.”

______________

Lydia went home when they finished the movie, kissing Isaac’s cheek before she left. Trying not to read too much into it, Isaac walked back into the house not really sure what to do with his free time. He had been intending to do his homework until the early hours of the morning, but with Lydia’s help, it was 10:04 and he didn’t have any left to do. He walked to his bedroom, lay down on top of the covers, and when Derek came home, was staring at the ceiling.

“Thought you had an essay.” Derek said.

“Lydia” Isaac replied.

“She’s good for you” Derek stated, and Isaac frowned.

“Yeah, she’s a great tutor.”

Derek was silent, like he was trying to figure out what to say. Isaac guessed he gave up, because he just nodded before walking away.

This was going to be a long year, he thought while falling asleep. He had seen men better than him deteriorate when they fell in love with Lydia Martin; he was sure he would be no better. Lydia Martin was going to be the death of him.  
____________

Isaac couldn’t have predicted it better; he was slowly becoming Stiles. Apparently, this was what Lydia did to people--she turned them into Stiles. He had no filter around her, any compliment that flitted through his head was blurted out.

“You look beautiful today.”

“You should smile more it suits you.”

“Your haircut is very pretty,” he said, just because he had no freaking filter. He did it unconsciously, spit it out because it was true. The more time he spent with Lydia, the more he liked her.

He spent every single day with her.

Not for long on some days, just half an hour. But there were other days where he spent hours on end with her; conjugating French verbs, watching movies, redecorating the house. It was like some twisted kind of torture that he loved and hated all at once.


	3. Chapter 3

“You’re spending a lot of time with Lydia lately,” Derek commented one day, almost a month after that first tutoring session. Isaac shrugged it off easily because he had gotten better at that lately.

“There’s a direct correlation between the amount of time I spend with her and my grades.” He said simply, sitting down on the couch with a cookie and a glass of milk.

“How was work?” Isaac asked, changing the topic. They had all gotten jobs lately, all except Isaac who wasn’t allowed one until he got his grades up for an entire semester. Another reason to lo- to like Lydia.

“It was work, about as exciting as being a mechanic can be.” Derek replied, acknowledging Isaac’s suspicion that most people hated working with a passion. He was one of the weird ones. He had missed working, he enjoyed it--work was a welcome distraction from whatever was going on in his life at the moment.

“So, what are you doing today?” Derek asked and Isaac shrugged, because he didn’t actually know. He had planned to call Lydia and see what she was up to but he wasn’t exactly going to open that whole can of worms now. Not with Derek there. It was a Sunday, he had the whole day wide open.

“No idea.”

Derek nodded. “Good, Stiles wants to go see The Hobbit and you’re coming with.”

Isaac frowned. “I can’t” he said swiftly.

“And why not?” Derek demanded. Isaac stared at the point where Derek’s shoes made contact with the ground to avoid looking at his face.

“Kind of promised Lydia I wouldn’t go see that one without her,” he said and Derek laughed.

“Then bring her along, pup!”

Isaac nodded, because, okay, that wasn’t too bad of an idea, right?

Wrong.

It was a horrible idea, something he only realized after he called Lydia and invited her to go. What if she thought it was a date, he realized. What if he dressed like it was a date and she didn’t think it was a date but then thought he thought it was a date? What if Derek said something and Lydia realized Isaac liked her? God, there were so many ways this could go wrong.

The panic resulted in Isaac frantically ripping apart his closet to find an outfit that looked formal enough that it could be a date, but casual enough to not be a date, depending on what Lydia wanted to assume. Problem was, he didn’t have anything like that, nothing at all.

Stiles walked in when Isaac was about a half a second away from mental breakdown levels, putting a hand on Isaac’s shoulder reassuringly.

“This one,” he said, holding up a t-shirt, “It’s her favorite color”

Stiles smiled and tossed a pair of khakis at Isaac. “Trying but not too hard right?”

Isaac nodded, because he was sure Stiles had been in his position many times before.

“Thanks.” Isaac took a deep breath and slipped the red shirt over his head.

“No problem, we’re leaving in ten minutes to go get her, so get your butt downstairs or we’ll leave without you!” Stiles laughed. “Martin Freeman calls, Isaac, and I’ll be damned if I don’t answer!” he yelled while he was walking down the stairs. Isaac chuckled, slipped the rest of his clothing on, and stood in front of the mirror. 

He didn’t look so bad, he thought. His khaki pants fit well enough, and his t-shirt was actually the right size and honestly, he didn’t look so horrible. He took a deep breath again, grabbed his wallet and walked downstairs.

“You look nice.” Derek said with a chuckle when Isaac entered the room and Isaac couldn’t help blushing.

“Shut up.” he said, following Stiles out the door with his head down.

“Aw it’s okay Isaac, you’re adorable.”

Isaac frowned, “You have literally the least right to say anything right now, Stilinski” He shoved him into the car lightly, “You were so hung up on her for so long, it’s not even funny!”

“But I have obviously moved on now, and passed the torch to your pathetic self.” Stiles said with a laugh.

“You suck” Isaac replied, “I know I’m pathetic, but you don’t have to be so happy about it.”

Stiles patted him on the back “As I recall, you did your fair share of laughing when I was chasing after that big lug over there.” Isaac nodded because it was true. He had laughed at Stiles almost every single day while he was hopelessly pining over Derek. Stiles had been pathetic, it was really funny. Like how could Isaac (and the rest of the pack) not laugh.

“Okay so, if you stop now, we’re even” Isaac replied, crawling into the back seat and buckling in. He bounced his legs nervously.

Not that he had a reason to be nervous. He was sure that he didn’t, this wasn’t even a date; this was just going to see a movie with a group of friends, two of whom happened to be dating. No big deal, not a date. He reassured himself over and over, not a date… not a date...

He was mentally reminding himself of that as he walked up the stairs to Lydia’s front door. Okay, so he was nervous. Really freaking nervous. And he shouldn’t be because this was not a date. He knocked on the door. It swung open and Lydia was standing there smiling.

“You look beautiful,” he blurted before he even had a second to breath.

“You don’t look so bad yourself” she countered. Laughing, she walked to the car. “Derek, Stiles, you two are sickeningly cute as always.” Isaac opened the door for her and she slid into the back seat.

Stiles laughed, hand twined in Derek’s hair, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder.

“Shut up” Stiles demanded while Derek turned the car back on. “Little people here we come!”

Isaac laughed nervously, securing his seat belt and slipping into easy conversation with Lydia about how her day had gone so far.

It was crazy, it had only been about 24 hours since he had seen her last, but it seemed like they had an endless supply of things to talk about. They never ran out of subjects, from their excitement over the movie to Isaac’s English paper that was due the following Thursday. They arrived at the movie theater before they even realized time had passed. They were still chattering in the back seat for a few minutes after Derek had cut the engine. Isaac only realized this when he heard Stiles chuckling.

“As much as I’d like to sit here and watch you two flirt forever, I kind of want to see a movie.”

Isaac flushed before frantically opening the door.

“Uh yeah let’s go.” he said, tripping his way out of the car, embarrassed. Stiles laughed at him.

Jerk.

Isaac made it through the movie without any more embarrassing hiccups. Lydia stole his Coke because she didn’t like diet but had insisted on ordering it, despite the fact that she didn’t need it. He had never met someone as beautiful as Lydia. Like ever, in his whole life. Regardless, he had been stuck with the gross diet concoction which he had unfortunately finished because it was impossible to eat popcorn without drinking something. Stupid movie theaters and their psychology.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my beta who is working on an amazing fic and editing all my cruddy little drabbles all at the same time! real life super hero ladies and gents!

By the time Isaac got home that night, he was exhausted.

He fell onto his bed fully clothed, not even finding the energy to slip off his jeans or pull his blankets up and was sooo close to falling asleep when Stiles barged into his bedroom.

“So, that went well” he said, grinning and Isaac groaned.

“Stiles. Go away.”

“Come on man, you have to satisfy my curiosity! Was it a date? Was it not a date? Did you make it into the exclusive club that is Lydia Martin's Boyfriends? Because if you did, that would make you the first one who isn’t a lacrosse captain. Hey, maybe that’s why she never wanted me. Hell, I couldn’t even make first string. But not you man, you're first string all the way!” He blabbered on, and Isaac threw a pillow at his head.

“Stiles, go away!” he repeated angrily, “It wasn’t a date! And she’s not my girlfriend, she’s my tutor.”

Stiles laughed, “Yeah because I stare at my tutor like that…”

“Actually you do.” He replied, seeing as Derek had uncovered a miraculous knowledge of Economics. Oddly enough, Econ was the only class Stiles was bad at and Isaac was good at. Derek was better though.

“Shut up.” Stiles muttered, throwing his pillow back at Isaac and walking out the door with a huff.

Isaac laughed, pulling his blankets up and attempting to go back to sleep. This was going to be a long week with Stiles and his need to be a total obvious jerk. He lay there trying to fall asleep when his phone buzzed.

To: Isaac  
had fun tonight  
From: Lydia

He grinned, setting his phone beside his head and drifted off to sleep.

Everything went normal for a while. Stiles teased Isaac, Lydia didn’t notice, Isaac flushed like a tomato, and they all ate lunch together. They had school, and after, Lydia and Isaac would go to Derek’s house and she would help him finish his homework.

Sometimes things changed, like Isaac wouldn’t get homework or Lydia would stay late and they would watch a movie. Sometimes they played Mario kart for hours on end, but mostly, they just studied. And oddly, that was more than enough for Isaac. Just being around her made him happier.

God he was sappy.

And then, Lydia didn’t show up to school.

Which, okay, that was normal; people got sick. He couldn’t remember Lydia every being sick, he was kind of under the impression she was infallible. But, apparently, she wasn’t.

To: Lydia  
You okay?  
From: Isaac

To: Isaac  
Yeah, just a cold.  
From: Lydia

Isaac nodded, slipping his phone in his pocket, but pulling it right back out when it buzzed seconds later.

To: Isaac  
There’s not any chance you want to bring me my work, is there?  
From: Lydia

Isaac laughed, Only 100% he thought. His day was so off right now; these days, he counted on Lydia being there. She was just, always there; laughing, joking, commenting on people’s shoes. Which, most the time, he didn’t understand but the fact that she was there mattered. Everything was different when he had to walk to class by himself and sit beside an empty seat.

To: Lydia  
No problem : )  
From: Isaac

He smiled a little more through the rest of his classes that day, slowly collecting Lydia’s work from her teachers and putting the pages in a folder. By the end of the day it was huge, he had no idea how she managed so many AP classes. Especially without people knowing. Seriously, that girl was impressive.

______________

“You’re driving me home, right?” Stiles said, dropping his arm over Isaac’s shoulder.

Crap. He knew he had forgotten something.

“Um, no?” he said, slipping out of his grasp. “Sorry! Lydia’s sick so I’m bringing her work to her.” He waved the folder in front of Stiles with an apologetic smile, “Call Derek, he doesn’t work today.”

Stiles laughed, “Go get her then, lover boy!”

Isaac blushed, turning and walking towards the door.


	5. Chapter 5

.  
Isaac had a few stops to make before getting to the Martin residence. By the time he knocked on the door Isaac was almost falling over from the weight of it all. He knocked on the door awkwardly with his elbow, because grocery bags were weighing down his arms. “LYDIA, I’m here!” he yelled at the door, hoping she would hear him, and it swung open to reveal...

...Wow.

Okay, that shouldn’t be possible, he thought, nobody should look that pretty when they’re sick. There should be a rule that when you are sick you aren’t allowed to look like a goddess dressed in sweatpants, because Lydia Martin was just too good to be true in this moment. Her hair was thrown up on her head, disheveled and messy, but still beautiful. Her clothes seemed to dwarf her, but looked completely natural. But most importantly...

“You wear glasses?” He stared at her curiously.

A hand shot up to her face, like she had forgotten she was wearing them. She probably had, actually, now that he thought about it.

“No, I don’t, I wear contacts.”

“You shouldn’t” he said, walking past her and setting the bags on the kitchen table. “You look good in glasses.” He grinned and pulled out a can of soup and set it on the table. “I um, brought supplies.”

Lydia picked up the soup and smiled, “How did you know?” she asked, eyeing it. It wasn’t chicken noodle; it was split pea and barley soup. She didn’t even know where he got it; her mom went way out of her way to get it.

Isaac shrugged, pulling out cough medicine, ginger ale, cough drops, vapo-rub and a rice pouch from the bags. “You mentioned it once.” he said, as if that explained everything.

Which, it really didn’t considering she had mentioned it to a lot of people a lot more than once but that didn’t mean any of them had brought it to her when she was sick. Hell, Jackson wouldn’t even come into the house when she was sick, unless she put on a mask, which was just not attractive. Not to mention, the first time she had worn her glasses in front of him he had demanded she take them off because they made her look like “a geek that he should laugh at not be dating”. The most pathetic part was, he was the nicest guy she had ever dated.

“I also brought movies.” Isaac said, lifting up a stack. “Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, 10 Things I Hate About You, and, uh,” he pulled out the last one, “Oh yeah, How to Lose a Guy in 10 days.” He handed them to her, “You pick.”

“You didn’t buy them all, did you?” she asked, looking at all the movies she loved. Apparently, Isaac knew that.

“Well, no, I owned most of them already. Derek bought me a few for Christmas and Stiles bought me The Notebook when you and I started watching movies together because he said I’d need it but I haven’t yet, so yeah.” he explained while he popped the lid on the soup and poured it into a bowl.

They didn’t come here often, but there had been a few times when Derek had been doing work on the house that they had resorted to meeting at Lydia’s. It happened enough that Isaac knew relatively where things were, but he had to open all the cabinets to find Lydia’s bowl. No really, it was hers, it had her name on it, and it was the only one he had ever seen her use, so, it was kind of important. He found it eventually, still in the dishwasher.

“How did you become my best friend without me noticing?” she asked, spreading out the films and studying at them with a furrowed brow.

Isaac grinned, because that look was even cuter when she had glasses on. Laid-back Lydia was always his favorite. And being here when she was sick was wierdly exciting. Like, yeah, there was the very small possibility that he might get sick; it was unlikely, but possible. But in exchange, he got to see her completely unguarded, no walls. And she let him, which was kind of huge because Isaac knew that Lydia barely let anyone see her without make up on let alone weak and sick.

“Not sure.” He replied, smiling and pulled the bowl out of the microwave and walking into the living room “So what are we watching?” he called from the living room, grabbing a blanket from the living room to cuddle with later.

“Uhm” she replied uncertainly from the other room and he laughed. Turns out, Lydia wasn’t very good at making little decisions. She could decide what college to go to (for both of them might he add). They're only juniors but she had already decided they were both going to the same school so she wouldn’t be pitiful and alone the first week of school. Which he thought was unlikely, all shhhe had to do was snap her fingers and twelve guys would be there to carry her purse if she wanted. e didn’t question it though, he was pleased that she thought about that stuff. She even knew she wanted to be a lawyer, which he thought was pretty fitting.

But she couldn’t make little decisions; what flavor of ice cream to buy, what movie to watch, what to wear. Isaac always thought it was funny.

“Did you at least narrow it down?” he asked, walking back into the kitchen smirking.

She looked a little ashamed, “No.” She sighed.

“They’re all so good!” she exclaimed, staring at them all spread out before her.

He laughed, “Alright, romance, action or comedy” he asked and she made that face again. The scrunched up one where her nose got tiny wrinkles in it, and her eyebrows furrowed, while her lips got all tiny and tight.

“Romance” she decided finally, and Isaac slid everything but The Notebook and A Walk To Remember off the table.

“Alright, this one” he said, grabbing The Notebook and handing it to her, “I’ve never seen it.”

She stared at him like he had just said he had never ridden a bike, or he hated baseball and apple pie or something. “You have never seen the notebook?!” she asked incredlously.

Alright, so maybe she would have been less upset about the baseball and apple pie thing. Which was good, because if he was being honest, he really was more of a football fan.

“Don’t rip my head off, I’m watching it now, aren’t I?” he asked, putting his hands up defensively.

She glared, which was surprisingly effective considering she was sick and wearing glasses; it should have diminished the whole effect of the glare but on Lydia, well, nothing diminished the glares. She was freaking scary sometimes.

“You’re scary you know that?” he asked, turning to walk into the living room, “Brilliant, wonderful, and amazing, yes, but really scary sometimes.”

She laughed, “Glad to know you have a sense of self preservation.” She flopped down on the couch and had a spoonful of her soup. “The only reason I’m not more upset with you is because you brought me my favorite soup.”

Isaac laughed slipping the movie into the DVD player and sitting down next to her on the couch. Not too close, but not far away. They had gotten past the whole Isaac sitting as far away from her as he possibly could without falling off the couch thing. Which was good, because that had made sharing popcorn really hard. But it wasn’t like they were cuddling, they were friends. Isaac reminded himself of that daily, they were very good friends. Best friends. He had never had a best friend and now he had one and he should be grateful.

That’s what he told himself every day, he should be grateful and not upset because he wanted more. His life was so much better than he ever thought it would be and he couldn’t ruin it now by getting greedy.

“Is this movie going to make me cry?” he asked leaning back into the couch.

Lydia laughed, “Like a baby.”

She was right of course, and it was embarrassing, but how could he not. Like, have you seen the notebook? It was sickeningly sweet to the point where his cavities had cavities. It was, god. It was sad and depressing and sweet and adorable and he only cried a little bit. Really.

“Told you” Lydia said, switching the TV off and curling into a ball on the couch.

“I changed my mind, you have the worst taste I’m movies. You made me cry!” he accused, and she laughed at him.

“You can’t yell at me Isaac! I’m sick,” she countered, and he pouted. Because she was right, he really shouldn’t yell at her.

So instead, he stuck his tongue out and picked up her bowl to go stick it in the sink. “Do you want cough medicine?” he asked, glancing at the clock. It was 8:50. He should probably text Derek if he was going to stay any later.

“Is it grape?” she yelled, and he laughed.

“What, do you think I hate you?” He grabbed the cherry flavored medicine, brought it into the living room and handed it to her.

“You’re so good to me,” she said, grinning. And it was actually true, she thought. Isaac treated her better than anyone had ever treated her before. He was like, a best friend and--well not a best friend. She would say brother but he wasn’t, because, well. He was Isaac, and that was the best explanation she could give.

“My parents will be home soon” she said, frowning at the clock while measuring herself some medicine.

“So I should probably leave, shouldn’t I?”

“Probably,” she replied, downing the medicine before going to pick up 10 Things I Hate About You and slipping it into the DVD player.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, grabbing his wrist and yanking him back down onto the couch, and rested her head casually on his shoulder. “Nope”

Isaac nodded, smiling. Because this was nice, it was moments like this that he thought maybe he could be okay with just friendship.Their friendship was easy and fun, and he didn’t have to try hard at anything. They teased and joked and it was great.

“Stop thinking so loud!” Lydia poked him in the ribs.

“Ouch,” he said, surprised by the attack. “Remind me why I put up with you?” he asked, swatting at her head gently.

“Because you love me.” she said, laughing and burrowing her head back into his shoulder as the movie started.

“I do,” he replied.

He didn’t really know when that had happened, when it went from being a crush (an overwhelming crush, but still just a crush) to him being in love with her. Like stupidly in love, if he was the type, he would have been drawing her name in hearts all over his binders but that wouldn’t work well because, well, she sits next to him in half his classes and those that she doesn’t, she tutors him in, so she sees all his binders multiple times a day. Also, he couldn’t draw a heart to save his life, he couldn’t draw anything to save his life.

Lydia yawned, and it dawned on him just then that he had gotten the pm version of the cough medicine. Which, in a way, was good because it meant that she would get enough sleep which he was sure she needed. She stayed up to ridiculous hours of the night every night.

“I love you too.” she mumbled, sleepily.

Wow those meds hit like a truck, he thought when she curled tighter into him, clinging to his arm. He smiled, only feeling vaguely like a creep because he had given her medicine and now she had impaired inhibitions. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything. Cuddling wasn’t bad, lots of people cuddled when they were sick. It made them feel better.

“Sure you do Lyd.” He said, pressing pause on the movie and standing up slowly.

“Nooooo” she whined, grabbing his hand, “You’re my pillow.” She huffed. Isaac smirked, rolling his eyes slightly.

“Come on princess, upsy-daisy.” He lifted her bridal style and carried her to her room, careful not to hit her head on any of the walls in the narrow hallway.

“You’re the best guy ever.” she said, bopping him on the nose and he laughed because Lydia like this was a little funny. She never lost control like this, even when she was drunk she was still in control.

“I’ll believe you when you’re not hopped up on cough medicine.” he countered, laying her on her bed and pulling the covers over her.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, pouting and rubbing at her eyes.

“Yes.” He replied, patting the blankets down. “Your parents hate me, remember? Probably not best if I’m here when they get home.”

She nodded. “Hey Isaac,” she said, gesturing to the bed next to her, “come here?”

He nodded, sitting down next to her.

“Why’d you take care of me?” She asked, honestly baffled. Nobody ever took care of her. Her parents couldn’t care less, they always left when she got sick. Jackson, well, Jackson had been a dick about it because he didn’t want to get sick. But nobody, not even her nanny when she was young had been this nice to her.

“Because I love you, and you’re my best friend, right?” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead lightly. “Now, go to sleep.” he stood up and walked out the door.

It was moments like this that he knew he wouldn’t last long. He knew he was going to screw it up, somehow. When she realized he was being serious when he said I love you, she wasn’t going to want to speak to him. Because as much as he tried to convince himself to not be greedy, as much as he tried to pretend it was, being friends just wasn’t enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Everything went back to normal when Lydia came back to school. She didn’t say   
anything about the day she was sick, and Isaac didn’t either. He wasn’t sure how   
much she remembered from the cough medicine haze, but he was kind of hoping it   
wasn’t much.

Lydia plopped down beside him at lunch one day, “Apparently everyone in the   
entire school is under the impression that you are my boyfriend.” She casually   
took a bite out of her apple.

She had too much makeup on today and he could see the outlines of her contacts   
that he now knew were there. This wasn’t his Lydia; this Lydia had perfectly   
calculated expressions and planned outfits that were coordinated down to the   
color of the stitching. She monitored what she said and never let anything slip.   
She laughed politely, never snorted, and chewed the apple in tiny little bites   
that wouldn’t mess up her lip-stick.

He hated it.

“Why would they think that?” he asked, taking a large bit of his pizza.

Lydia shrugged, “Something about us being inseparable, and me not dating which   
hello is not unheard of.” She said waving her apple around dramatically.

Isaac laughed, “Lyds I think this is the longest you’ve gone since like… pre-k   
without a steady boyfriend”

She rolled her eyes, “Oh Isaac, I didn’t know you cared.”

He snorted, “I don’t” he replied, or lied I should say because he did care. He   
was overjoyed at the fact that Lydia wasn’t dating anyone. Well anyone else   
because the only thing that could have made it better was if she dated him but   
that wasn’t likely, now was it?

“Is that why no one asked you to prom?” he asked, through a large mouthful of   
pizza.

She laughed, “Real attractive Isaac.” She rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers   
on the table, “people have asked me, I just don’t want to go with them.” She   
brushed it off.

“But you’re going?” he asked, because, well, it wasn’t like she was going to go   
without a date. She was Lydia Martin. She could get any guy in the school to go   
with her. Including Danny.

“Obviously, I’m nominated for princess aren’t I?” she asked, and he laughed. He   
had forgotten that the nominations came out today.

“Oh yeah, who’s hearts are about to get broken when you beat them?” he asked.

“Didn’t pay attention. They don’t matter-everyone knows I’m going to win.” Isaac   
laughed, that’s his Lydia. Confident and amazing.

“You’re nominated you know?” she asked stealing one of his french fries and he   
almost choked.

“I… what!?”

“Nominated, for prince.” she said, nabbing another one of his fries; they were   
good and she was eating a salad and no, she wasn’t going to apologize.

“What?” he asked again.

“God Isaac, do I have to spell it out for you?” she rolled her eyes again, “You,   
Isaac Lahey have been nominated for Junior Prom Prince, and given recent gossip,   
you have a chance at winning too”

“You mean, because people think we’re together?” he asked. She nodded, “Won’t   
they realize we aren’t when you show up to prom with someone else?”

“Not if I don’t.” she replied, throwing a fry at him. “Are you going to ask me   
or not?” she demanded, and Isaac may or may not have gaped at her.

“Do you… do you want me to?”

She rolled her eyes, boys. Lydia picked up another fry, flinging it at his face   
and giggling when it hit him.

“You’re really slow on the uptake here.“ she taunted, and he nodded.

“Well fine then, Lydia Martin, Goddess of Beacon Hills High School, would you   
like to go to the prom with me, as friends, of course?” he asked dramatically.

“Hmm, nah.” She said, and it was his turn to throw a fry.

“Isaac!” she screeched when it landed in her hair.

He chuckled, “Calm down you look fine, now are you going with me or not, because   
I wasn’t even planning on going”

“Why not?” she asked, and he shrugged.

“Dances aren’t my thing”

“Well they are now.“ she replied, as the bell to signal lunch was over rang.   
“And I swear to God Lahey, if you are late picking me up I will skin you alive.”   
she yelled, as he walked to the garbage to dump his tray.

What had he gotten himself into with this one?

A week later he knew exactly what he had gotten himself into. A mess, a horrible   
horrible mess. He stood at the tux fitting, trying to figure out how in the hell   
he was going to afford all this. Who knew prom could be so freaking expensive?   
Lydia was fussing over something, somehow managing to be both Lydia’s all at   
once.

“No, listen to me I want it to be red. Not like…vampire red, a little duller   
more matted, like…” she looked at Isaac for help.

“Like… Iron mMan red?” he asked, and her face lit up.

“Yes! Exactly, like Iron Man red” she said, grinning, “I knew there was a reason   
I kept you around” she said, patting his shoulder.

“I’m hurt, it’s not because you love me?” he said, faking a pout.

“That too!” she said, sashaying away from him to go look at more dresses. Red   
(Iron Man red) ones. Though he didn’t understand why, seeing as they kind of   
clashed with her hair. But apparently her mother liked them. He personally   
thought that the blue one she had been staring at longingly earlier would have   
looked breathtaking on her. But hey, what did he know?

His tailor glanced up from pinning his tux, “How long have you two been   
together?” he asked, grinning widely.

Isaac laughed lightly, “We’re not.” he said, “Not for lack of trying, but she’s   
my best friend.” he stared at her as she emerged from the fitting room in   
another red dress.

“What do you think?” she asked and he frowned, because it was kind of hard to   
lie to Lydia.

“Do me a favor?” he said arms growing tired from holding them in the   
outstretched position. “Try that one on for me?” he said, gesturing to the   
midnight blue dress on the wall.

Lydia frowned, “My…”

Isaac cut her off, “Do you see your mother anywhere?” he asked, looking around   
which earned him a prick with the pin.

“Sorry,” the tailor mumbled.

“I didn’t think so,” he concluded “Now I for one, would like to see that one,   
anyone else?” he asked, and the tailor raised his chubby hand.

Lydia scoffed grabbed the dress off the wall and walked into the fitting room.   
When she emerged, it took Isaac a second to regain his breath.

“You…that…” he took a breath, “Lydia I swear if you wear any dress other than   
that one I will not take you to this prom” he finished defiantly even though his   
heart was racing and his palms were growing sweaty. She looked…just wow.

“But….”

“Lydia if you argue with me, I will make sure Derek stops buying chocolate ice   
cream!”

She sighed, turning to the sales woman silently happy that Isaac was being so   
forward about his love for the dress. It was her favorite. It didn’t clash with   
her hair. It hugged in all the right places. It was… it was beautiful.

“I guess I’ll take this one.”

The sales woman nodded.

And that ladies and gentlemen was only the beginning. Isaac thought it would end   
after the dresses and the tuxes but apparently there was so much more that went   
into it all. A limo, flowers, friends, campaigning. By the time Lydia left his   
house every night he was exhausted, and this was a lot of work for a date that   
wasn’t even a date.

“You look like a zombie, dude” Stiles said, plopping down beside him and Isaac   
let out a strangled sigh.

“I feel like a zombie” he said, pulling out a pin and handing it to a passing   
girl with a wink, “Vote Isaac and Lydia!” 

He turned back to Stiles, gesturing to the table below them and all the posters   
around him, “This, this is all ridiculous, she knows she is going to win and I   
don’t care if I win.”

Stiles laughed, “Right, because who cares if they become Prom Prince.”

Isaac rolled his eyes, “Honestly I couldn’t care less, I’m only doing this..” he   
cut himself off to hand a group of girls buttons and cupcakes flashing a fake   
smile that made one of the girls blush before sitting back down next to Stiles.   
“I’m only doing this because Lydia asked me to.” He shrugged, “Like, she   
actually asked, not demanded.”

“You’re worse than I was, dude!” Stiles said, clapping him on the back and   
chuckling. “Vote Isaac and Lydia!” he yelled to a group of passing jocks. “I   
thought you were going as friends.”

Isaac blushed, because that was kind of the worst part of the whole thing. It   
wasn’t even a date, and worse than that, he didn’t even get the nerve to ask   
her. He had to be badgered with french fries to ask her to go as friends. It was   
slightly pathetic (not as pathetic as the fact that he had posed for   
professional photos to go on these buttons) but still, pretty pathetic.

Thing was, this was Lydia. The Lydia that cared about being prom princess, and   
wanted to campaign. Well she might not have been his Lydia but she was in there   
somewhere. And the more he helped with this stuff, the campaigning, the limo,   
the “networking” as she called it but it was really just going to a lot of   
parties and casually slipping into conversation that they were running together,   
not apart.

Well the more he helped with all that, the more time he had with his Lydia. The   
more she stopped blustering around, wondering what her parents would think. The   
days when he worked his butt off to make this Lydia happy. Well those were the   
days he got his Lydia back, with messy hair and glasses. Who laughed so hard she   
snorted and watched geeky comic book movies. The one who argued with him about   
which doctor was better and ate tubs of ice cream with a spoon without sharing.   
The Lydia he fell in love with.

And so, he did this. He networked, and he campaigned, and he put up with the   
fact that Lydia was the most popular girl in the entire school. That her parents   
were crazy and would probably disown her if she lost that title, and he sucked   
it up and pushed through because at the end of a good day, they would go to   
Derek’s house and Lydia would ramble on about archaic Latin or lecture him about   
the fact that he still hadn’t made it all the way through usual suspects.  
Stiles was right, he thought burying his head in his hands. He had it bad.


End file.
